Triggers
by Vicki Turner
Summary: These are the little, unexpected, and everyday events on Earth that take on a new meaning for those who have traveled through the gate or worked under the mountain. 100 word drabbles. Suggestions welcome! Chapter 16 - Daniel (Moving)
1. Cassie -- Class Discussions

**Class Discussions**

 **Tag: Season 1, Episode 15: "Singularity"  
**

"It's a no-brainer."

She enrolled in _War Ethics_ to reconnect with soldiers, whose weekend visits had devolved into sporadic emails, and not to debate teenage idiots.

"A weapon's a weapon. Shoot the kid!"

The echo of blast-door gears followed her as she fled the room. Her forehead pressed against the cold metal locker. Fingers itched for a blanket. She felt the soothing lullaby of another racing heart.

"Cassie?" She flinched as if the words were the explosion that never came. A concerned classmate replaced a distraught captain. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," She took deep, practiced breaths. "I'm-"

 _Brave_. _Very brave._

"-fine."


	2. Jack -- Free Samples

**Free Samples**

**Tags: Season 1, Episode 9 "Brief Candle"**

Super-freaky-science-mind-powers. That's how Carter conned him into wasting his Saturday at Costco, especially since the promised smorgasbord lunch failed to appear. Only a squirrel could consider bite-sized hotdogs and pretentious pretzels a meal.

"Would you like some cake?" A polo-wearing employee held out her platter. Suddenly, his vision doubled, his hand wrinkled, and his knees ached as if the Doc had gone on an amputation spree.

He blinked twice.

"Any libido-increasing drugs in the frosting?"

Carter snorted.

"No!" The server looked appalled.

Colonel O'Neill tentatively took the dixie cup. Eying Carter, he popped the cake cube in his mouth. "Shame."


	3. Walter -- Codes

**Codes**

 **Tags: Any season**

Some memorized Shakespeare, he memorized digits of irrational numbers. After enlisting, this ability to rattle off numerical sequences was relegated to a minor note in his file, until it earned him a transfer and security clearances.

His hands were sweating.

Every IDC, current and retired, lived in his memory. Computers recorded each transmission, but SG-teams trusted his split-second confirmations. Their lives depended upon him.

Swearing loudly, he kicked the door as tremors wracked his body. His wife frowned at the dent.

"I forgot the code," his voice cracked.

"It's okay," she soothed, "It's just the garage door opener, nothing important."


	4. Sam -- Mosquito Bites

**Mosquito Bites**

 **Tags: Season 2, Episode 2: "Seth" ; Season 6, Episode 5 "Nightwalkers"**

Mark's kids weaved around patio chairs, chasing each other with sparklers, when something pricked her neck. Panic paralyzed her.

"You're safe, Sam. The explosions, they're just fireworks."

The words snapped her back to a worried brother hovering over her. "July 4th, I know."

"Sam . . ."

"It's not what you think." _The symbiote died; it took only a few minutes._

"You should quit."

"I should wear bug spray. Blasted mosquitoes." She pushed herself off the ground. "Mark, I love my job and it's important. Please."

He hesitated. "You're important, too."

"I promise—if I need help, I'd get it."

"God, I hope so."


	5. Daniel -- Digging Through Closets

**Digging Through Closets**

**Tags: Season 2, Episode 9: "Secrets" ; Season 3, Episode 10: "Forever in a Day" ; Season 3, Episode 20: "Maternal Instinct"  
**

"There's snowshoes in here somewhere..."

Downtime was a myth less real than most, and Jack's strange impulses usually monopolized it.

Abandoning standard excavation techniques, Daniel hastily discarded outdated textbooks and unpacked kitchenware before spotting a large box against the closet wall. Curiosity brought it into the hallway.

"A crib, Daniel?"

Hands stilled. Each breath betrayed a grief rolling beneath the surface like tidal waves that hadn't reached the shore.

"I guess I, um, counted my chickens," he confessed. "I promised he'd be safe..."

"And he is."

"He felt like mine, Jack."

Silence.

"Daniel—"

Retreat.

"Is there a donation bin nearby?"


	6. Sam -- Countdowns

**Countdowns  
**

 **Episode Tags: none**

Condensation dripped onto her index finger, which tapped against the half-drained champagne glass. The volume of the room increased as if competing with her heart.

Blue eyes behind round rims noted her nervousness.

"You feel it, too, huh?" Skin crinkled around perceptive eyes and a strained smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Daniel."

An illogical guilt breathed over her shoulder. Her brain convulsed, begging for data to calculate the necessary course of action to ensure everyone's survival before it was too late.

There was only chorused chanting ringing from the Colonel's television.

 _Three. Two. One._

"Happy New Year!"


	7. Daniel -- Commitments

**Commitments**

 **Tags: Season 8**

"You're scared of commitment."

"Not really," Daniel frowned at his date _,_ whose hair never reflected desert sun.

"You'll attend my family reunion, then?"

Skaa'ra's moonshine haunted his taste buds. "It's months away, Julia, and I can't-"

"Commit."

"Because of _my job_ , which I'm very committed to." A calloused trigger finger swirled his cooling coffee.

"How should I know? You won't talk about it."

"It's classified."

"No, your thoughts and emotions are classified. Come on, Daniel."

"Can't we just enjoy each other's company?"

"After three months, that's not enough." She waited for an argument. None came.

Daniel finished his coffee alone.


	8. Dr Lee -- Batteries

**Batteries** (Dr. Lee)

 **Episode Tags:** Season 4, Episode 19 "Prodigy"; Season 6, Episode 15 "Paradise Lost"; Season 7, Episodes 11 and 12 "Evolution Part 1 & 2"

Bill had no delusions of being a hero. If he had been one, he would've dragged a dying Thompson away from energy insects or theorized that short-range teleportation could reach a moon before abandoning Colonel O'Neill.

Yet, the SGC valued his expertise concerning the hybridization of alien and earth-based technologies, which meant he could forgive himself and move on.

Until a dead battery had him hyperventilating in the Arby's parking lot.

What use was an electrical engineer terrified of electricity?

Fear faded, anger rose. Terrorists stole his dignity, but not his _life_.

It took hours, but Bill jump-started that car.


	9. Teal'c -- Video Games

**Video Games** (Teal'c)

 **Episode Tags: Season 8, Episode 6 "Avatar"**

"Thanks for letting me crash here," the college sophomore squirmed out from behind his large-screen television. "Sam offered, but . . . she tries too hard sometimes."

"May I inquire as to what you were doing, Cassandra Fraiser?"

"Hooking up my Xbox. _Call of Duty_ 's such an addicting game. Want to play?"

Klaxons blared and Teal'c swatted the controller out of her hands.

"I most certainly do not."

Cassandra frowned worriedly, but let the other alien's outburst slide.

"I haven't seen Star Wars in a while," she offered.

Teal'c nodded, relieved. "The DVDs are over there. I shall retrieve the Ben and Jerry's."


	10. Sam -- Neighborhood Gyms

**Neighborhood Gyms** (Sam)

 **Tags:** Season 5, Episode 11 "Desperate Measures"

After weeks of exclusively using the SGC gym, twenty dollars and a newspaper promotion for Accolade Fitness graced her desk. A post-it note read: "Get off the base, Carter."

She crumpled the note. Screw him! She still flinched putting groceries in the trunk. Her personal .22 rarely saw the inside of a safe. If she ignored his order (it _was_ an order), she'd have to confess that this kidnapping had unsettled her more than any off-world trauma.

She'd never admit that, and the Colonel knew it.

Sam blinked back tears.

Damn him.

She bought a gym membership the next day.


	11. Siler -- Home Improvements

**Home Improvements** (MSgt. Siler)

 **Tags:** None

Fluid leaked from the air conditioner and an unassembled cabinet littered the floor. His wife sat on an unmade bed, suitcases at her feet.

"I tried nagging. I tried waiting. Neither worked."

Nudging the suitcases aside, he sat. "Isn't this a tad excessive? We'll hire someone." His bandaged hand held hers. "Hazard pay should cover it."

"It's always twelve-hour shifts, week-long quarantines, and when you're home, you're not really."

"I just … can't force myself to try and fix things anymore."

"Neither can I." She kissed his stubbled cheek. "I'll be at my mother's if you need to reach me."


	12. Jack -- Bocce

**Bocce** (Jack)

 **Tags:** Season 6, Episode 6 "Abyss"

Skirting the perimeter of drunken relatives, Jack cursed Aunt May for fandangling his number from Sara then ambushing him with old-fashioned, Irish-Catholic guilt. Somehow, he had resisted calling his team for an immediate extraction.

 _Clack._

A cousin's smile distorted into a sadistic sneer. His beer turned acidic and his chest burned.

 _Clack._

As the ground tilted, Jack fell into an empty armchair. What was wrong with him? He hadn't been this trip-wire twitchy since... Iraq.

 _Clack._

Nope. Not going there. His team had come through—Daniel came through.

 _Clack._

Ba'al—what a stupid name for a snakehead.

 _Clack._

Soon-to-be- _dead_ snakehead.


	13. Jack -- Sweaters

**Sweaters** (Jack)

 **Tags** : Season 6, Episode 6 "Abyss"; Season 7, Episode 1 and 2 "Fallen" and "Homecoming"

"Jack."

"Daniel?" He assumed a neutral expression. "Did you want anything?"

"No, not really." The archaeologist reached out and fiddled with the colonel's nameplate, as if he had never seen it before. "A new sweater maybe?"

"Clumsy me. I'm sorry about that."

"No, you're not."

"You're right. I'm not."

"Jack."

"Daniel."

Jack shrugged and relented. "It's beige. I don't like beige."

"You threw a bowl of chili at me in the commissary."

"I didn't expect it to hit you."

"But it did."

Jack smiled. "I'll get you a gift card."

"We're you always this unbalanced?"

"Only when you wear beige."


	14. Teal'c -- Friends

**Friends** (Teal'c)

 **Tags** : Season 10, Episode 20 "Unending"

She interrupted his meditation reluctantly.

"I knew you would inquire first, Samantha."

Her weight shifted. Lips thinned. Fingers tapped her thigh. "Well, I'm sure you know us better than we know you."

"Of that, I am uncertain," Teal'c confessed, observing her. She seemed as uncomfortable trying to console him as she had been first playing cello. Throughout life, grief had loved him more faithfully than his wife, but he had not anticipated it would embrace him this intimately now.

"I don't know what to say, only...I'm here for you."

"I know, ColonelCarter," Teal'c affirmed, but he missed her nonetheless.


	15. Daniel and Vala -- Campfires

**Campfires** (Daniel and Vala)

 **Tags:** Season 9, Episode 1 and 2 "Avalon Part 1 and 2" and Season 9, Episode 3 "Origin"

Daniel always suspected Vala was a team player.

Sure, she'd whine constantly and refuse to build fires, but she'd also pitch tents, take soil samples, and river-wash laundry. She even dug their latrine once.

So, when cold nights pushed everyone closer to the fire, he never begrudged it when she'd squeeze his arm, claim boredom, and check the perimeter, alone.

Until one evening the flames framed her strained expression, and he sees her burning again.

He somehow finds himself on his feet following her.

Far from the fire he cradles her, chin on her head, content to feel her breathing.


	16. Daniel -- Moving

**Moving** (Daniel)

 **Tags:** Season 2 Episode 4 "The Gamekeeper"; Season 4 Episode 18 "The Light"; Season 7 Episode 1 "Fallen"'; Season 7 Episode 15 "Chimera"

After New York, Daniel lived a nomadic life.

"Plenty of space for your art," the realtor noted. "A picturesque balcony, too."

Everything he owned once fit in state-provided garbage bags and university stipends hadn't covered down payments.

"Artifacts," he corrected automatically. "And, um, I've had some . . . stressful experiences with balconies."

Sand-scratched journals contained sketches of Abydonian dwellings. His high-rise apartment felt like a waystation.

"Would you consider a split-level ranch, then?"

Vis Urban, his refugee camp.

"Buy a house?"

"If you plan to settle here long-term."

His existence-a painful cycle of hellos and goodbyes, deaths and resurrections.

"Maybe I should."


End file.
